Best PlacesAlum Bridge, WV Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Alum Bridge, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. This page is for people who live here or already know they want to. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Alum Bridge ranks 15,615th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on a stable housing market by a wide margin, and state infrastructure ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Alum Bridge
BestNeighborhood is the only ranking that scores 40 measures of daily life neighborhood by neighborhood and lets you re-weight every one of them yourself.
Alum Bridge's strengths and weaknesses
Where Alum Bridge ranks high
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 99% of towns
- QuietBetter than 97% of towns
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 94% of towns
- Tree shadeBetter than 94% of towns
- Disaster safetyBetter than 90% of towns
Where Alum Bridge ranks low
- State infrastructureBetter than only 3% of towns
- Short commute41.2 minutes each way, better than only 4% of towns
- Cell coverageBetter than only 4% of towns
- School gradeD, better than only 10% of towns
- Health outlookBetter than only 11% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Alum Bridge
A household needs to earn about $41,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Alum Bridge home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $102,401, so a typical household can afford the median home outright.
Where the monthly payment goes
Assumes a 20% down payment, a 6.6% 30-year fixed rate, and a 28% share of income going to the payment. The rate is the 2026-07-23 30-year fixed average, series MORTGAGE30US from the St. Louis Fed, which publishes Freddie Mac's weekly survey. Against the median home value, property tax uses Alum Bridge's effective rate of 0.43%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Renting versus buying
At today's prices, buying tends to cost more than renting for about the first 7 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Alum Bridge
Alum Bridge's age mix sits close to the national median.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Alum Bridge.
Who works in Alum Bridge, and how
Work in Alum Bridge centers on education and mining & oil & gas. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 92%
- Work from home 5%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in Alum Bridge
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Alum Bridge.
What the weather is like in Alum Bridge, month by month
Alum Bridge sees roughly 65 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 87 degrees. January highs sit near 42, with lows near 26. The comfortable stretch runs May through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 42° | 33° | 26° |
| April | 67° | 54° | 44° |
| July | 87° | 75° | 66° |
| October | 69° | 57° | 47° |
Flying in and out of Alum Bridge
The nearest airport, North Central West Virginia, is about 29 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Pittsburgh International, about 103 miles away.
The best schools in and around Alum Bridge
Schools across Alum Bridge average a D, better than 10% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Doddridge County Elementary SchoolC · 33% proficient
- Leading Creek ElementaryD+ · 22% proficient
Top middle schools
- Doddridge County Middle SchoolC · 33% proficient
- Robert L. Bland Middle SchoolD · 20% proficient
Top high schools
- Doddridge County High SchoolC− · 28% proficient
- Lewis County High SchoolD · 20% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Alum Bridge school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Alum Bridge measure by measure
Cards are ordered by how much each measure matters to you, so the ones you weighted highest come first. Expand to see every measure. Percentages compare Alum Bridge against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Alum Bridge
Is Alum Bridge a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Alum Bridge ranks 15,615th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on a stable housing market, quiet, and what local pay buys, and lowest on state infrastructure and long commutes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Alum Bridge expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $166,981. The overall cost of living runs about 21% below the national average. Set against a $102,401 median income, cost of living beats 94% of towns.
Is Alum Bridge safe?
Yes, Alum Bridge is safer than 85% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $183 per resident a year.
Compare Alum Bridge with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Alum Bridge. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Alum Bridge represents the same real quantity as a 60 anywhere else, and the ranking is a weighted average of those absolutes. The map colors come from a national scale calibrated against a population weighted random sample of 5,000 neighborhoods. That absolute scoring is what no other places-to-live ranking does: it puts a single neighborhood, a town, a metro, and a state on one scale, so the same 40 measures answer both which metro to move to and which street inside it to buy on. Read the full methodology.
Alum Bridge detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Alum Bridge: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Alum Bridge: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Alum Bridge: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Alum Bridge: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Alum Bridge detail on related sites:
- CrimeGrade: neighborhood crime rates behind the crime safety score.
- ISPreports.org: provider by provider internet availability and advertised speeds.
- CoverageWatch: the car insurance premiums behind the cheap car insurance score.
Federal and public data:
- U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey: income, home value, rent, vacancy, commute time and mode, educational attainment, home age, age structure, household type, industry, and race.
- NOAA Global Surface Summary of the Day: the daily station record behind the monthly temperatures and the pleasant-day count.
- FAA Passenger Boarding Data: airport size and annual passenger counts.
- Freddie Mac Primary Mortgage Market Survey: the 30-year fixed rate used in the cost-to-buy estimate.
- FBI Crime Data Explorer: reported offenses behind the tangible crime cost estimate.
- U.S. EPA Air Quality System: five year average air quality index.
- FEMA National Risk Index: expected annual loss from natural hazards.
- CDC PLACES: disease burden, preventable risk, and barriers to care.
- National Center for Education Statistics: school enrollment and assessment inputs behind the school grade.
- FCC National Broadband Map: internet and wireless availability.
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics: employment and job growth behind the local economy score.
- Religious activity uses a proprietary religious signal measurement.
Your priorities
Move a slider to say how much a measure matters. Zero turns it off.